[HOW TO] Remove bloatware

Once your Droid X is rooted, you can start to remove some of the crap Verizon and Motorola decided to make a quick buck off of. You'll need to have ADB or a terminal emulator (I suggest Better Terminal) from the market. You should be at least a little familiar from rooting.

Before I go on, I want to note a few things. READ THIS:
1) The method we are using here is RENAMING the files. That way, if you decide you want an app back, you can rename the file back to it's original name.
2) If you're not sure what an app is or what it does, don't touch it! Several people have changed a file they weren't sure about and it affected the phone in some way they didn't realize.
3) Further, understand that removing some apps will break functionality in others. They interact in ways you can't predict. If you have a problem, rename the file back.
4) Don't touch BackupAssistantClient.apk. Apparently it can cause a huge disaster when doing a system recovery. Leave it alone.

The Easy Way
If you don't mind paying (I think it's $1.99) for Root Explorer, get it from the Android Market. Open it.
- Press the Mount r/w button first
- Click the system folder
- Click the app folder
- You should now see /system/app at the top of the screen
- Long press on the app you want to rename, then change .apk to .bak

The Free Way
If you're using ADB (and remember, you're not asking in this thread what that means), with your Droid X plugged in, open a command prompt on your computer and type:adb shell

You're now ready to start removing/moving the apps you don't want. To get a list:cd /system/appls

You'll notice most look more or less like the names you see in the app drawer. Pick out the ones you don't want and use the command below to rename them (we're renaming instead of deleting so you can rename them back if you break something). If you're not sure what something is, I'd recommend NOT renaming it. Renaming the CityID, for example:mv CityID.apk CityID.bak

CityID.apk is, obviously, the name of the app. After renaming it to .bak, Android won't recognize it as an app. After you're finished, update the list of apps Android sees:sync

Help.
I was able to move some apps from /system/app to another directory /system/app.disable (created myself).
I did not do sync command. After reboot, the /system/app does not give permission (even under root) to chmod, move, or rename anything.
Why?
Thanks.

You'll notice most look more or less like the names you see in the app drawer. Pick out the ones you don't want and use the command below to rename them (we're renaming instead of deleting so you can rename them back if you break something). If you're not sure what something is, I'd recommend NOT renaming it. Renaming the CityID, for example:mv CityID.apk CityID.bak

CityID.apk is, obviously, the name of the app. After renaming it to .bak, Android won't recognize it as an app. After you're finished, update the list of apps Android sees:sync

Useful Searches

About DroidForums.net

DroidForums.net was founded in 2009 originally dedicated for the Motorola Droid, the first Verizon Android Phone. We have since expanded our community to cover all Android Phones, Android Tablets, and Android Wearables. We discuss various topics including Android Help, Android Device Reviews, Android Apps, Phone Accessories, Android Games and more. Our ultimate goal is to be the Internet's best and largest Android Forum.